SAR is indignant at at Azerbaijan`s consistent destruction of  Armenian Christian heritage in Artsakh

ArmInfo.  The Union of Armenians of Russia (UAR) expressed outrage at Azerbaijan's  consistent destruction of Armenian Christian heritage in occupied  Artsakh.

The UAR statement recalls that April is a special month in terms of  historical memory. "In Russia, April 19 is celebrated as Remembrance  Day for the Genocide of the Soviet People during the Great Patriotic  War.  This date, established in 2025, is dedicated to preserving the  memory of the mass crimes committed by the Nazis and their  accomplices. It is no coincidence that in April, shortly before  another commemorative date-April 24, Remembrance Day for the Victims  of the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey- Azerbaijanis are  destroying two churches in Stepanakert, the capital of  Nagorno-Karabakh: the Cathedral of the Intercession of the Holy  Virgin and the Surb Hakob Church," the UAR emphasized.

The Union of Armenians of Russia also found it telling that neither  Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, nor the Azerbaijani Minister of  Culture, nor other representatives of that country's authorities,  after the ethnic cleansing carried out in Artsakh (which was  facilitated by the compromising position of the Armenian  authorities), concealed their intentions to destroy, distort, and  appropriate Armenian Christian and cultural- historical heritage.

"The Azerbaijani media began to echo them, demanding the destruction  of Armenian Christian churches.  And they didn't have to wait long.  The attempts of the Azerbaijanis to justify their barbarity by saying  that these monuments were supposedly built "without the consent of  the Azerbaijani authorities" do not stand up to criticism. It is  logical to ask: with whom should the Armenians have coordinated the  construction of such masterpieces as the Gandzasar (13th century) and  Dadivank (9th-13th century) monasteries, the ancient settlement of  Tigranakert founded in the 1st century BC and the Vankasar church on  its territory (7th century), the Tsitsernavank monastery (4th-6th  centuries), the churches of Okhta Drni (6th century) and Gtchavank  (13th century), the Amaras monastery (4th century), Ghazanchetsots  (19th century) and more than five hundred other Christian  architectural monuments that were built by Armenians on their  historical lands thousands of years before Azerbaijan appeared on the  world map, requiring "coordination" for construction "Churches,  monuments, and memorials on lands to which he had no connection. It's  worth remembering that, according to international law,  Nagorno-Karabakh was never part of Azerbaijan," the SAR noted.

In October 2020, 2022, and 2023, due to the threat looming over part  of the World Heritage Sites of Nagorno-Karabakh-the Christian and  cultural-historical sites-SAR President Ara Abrahamyan appealed to  the Director-General of UNESCO and requested UNESCO's involvement.  Shortly thereafter, UNESCO announced its readiness to send a team of  experts to Nagorno-Karabakh. However, this was blocked by the  Azerbaijani authorities.

"What is the Pashinyan government doing against this backdrop? It is  busy with pre-election staging and the devaluation of the Armenian  Holy Apostolic Church, and the persecution of the clergy. Pashinyan  is evading direct questions about the destroyed Armenian churches in  Stepanakert, essentially playing along with Aliyev and giving him  free rein to continue his genocidal policies, distracting his  citizens with tales of an "era of peace" that he is allegedly  building with those who despise him, who invaded the territory of  Armenia and are not going to leave the strategic heights, who, waving  their fists, threaten the Armenian state. And who are consistently  destroying and annihilating everything connected with the  thousand-year presence, life, and creation of Armenians in  Nagorno-Karabakh, Baku, Nakhichevan, Kirovabad, and many other cities  and villages. And so that this list does not grow longer, we all need  to put aside personal matters, unite, and elect such a government in  Armenia in June. "A government that will be able to defend the  legitimate rights of the Armenian people with honor and dignity and  ensure the security of the Armenian state and its citizens," the SAR  concluded.

It should be recalled that on April 21, it was reported that  Azerbaijan had razed the Surb Astvatsatsin Church to the ground. Days  earlier, it was also reported that the enemy had destroyed the Surb  Hakob Church in Stepanakert. The cultural genocide in Artsakh is  taking place against the backdrop of the tacit encouragement of the  so-called civilized international community. Day after day, the  Azerbaijani occupiers are destroying sites that testify to the  millennia-long presence of Armenians on this land.

It should be noted that since the occupation of Artsakh, Azerbaijan  has completely destroyed or significantly damaged the following  cultural and religious sites. The Kanach Jam (Surb Hovhannes Mkrtich)  Church in Shushi was completely destroyed in April 2024, the  Ghazanchetsots Cemetery in Shushi was completely destroyed, the  village of Karintak was completely bulldozed, and monuments and busts  in Stepanakert, including those to Charles Aznavour, Hovhannes  Aivazovsky, Hovhannes Tumanyan, and Marshal Baghramyan, were  dismantled. The Marshal Khudyakov Museum in the village of Mets Tager  was destroyed. Today, approximately 4,000 Armenian cultural sites  remain under Azerbaijani control, including more than 370 churches  and 119 ancient fortresses.